The city of the living God was seen from afar, longed after, and waited for by the Old Testament saints (Heb. 11:13b, 16a, 10a). Speaking of Abraham and the other patriarchs, Hebrews 11:13 says, “All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar and greeted them, and confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth.” The Greek word translated “sojourners” may also be rendered “pilgrims,” “exiles,” “expatriates.” Abraham was the first Hebrew (Gen. 14:13), a river crosser, leaving Chaldea, the idolatrous land of curse, crossing the river (Josh. 24:2-3), and coming to Canaan, the good land of blessing. However, he did not settle there but sojourned in the land of promise as a pilgrim, even as an exile and an expatriate, longing after a better country, a heavenly one (Heb. 11:16). Isaac and Jacob followed him in the same steps, living on earth as strangers and sojourners and waiting for the God-built city of foundations.
In eternity past the Triune God made a plan, and throughout the centuries He has been carrying out His economy. The Son came through incarnation, lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years, died on the cross, was resurrected, and then ascended. Since His ascension, the Spirit has been working out many wonderful things. Surely, as the conclusion of all this, God will not build a material city for His redeemed people to live in. The New Jerusalem is a city, but it is not a physical, material city. Nevertheless, some believers still insist that the New Jerusalem is a material city built of actual gold, pearl, and precious stones.
Those who hold this concept need to consider Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 3. In this chapter Paul says that he laid Christ as the unique foundation, and then he charges us to take heed how we build on this foundation (vv. 10-12). We should build not with wood, grass, and stubble but with gold, silver, and precious stones. In this age, the church age, we should build the church with gold, silver, and precious stones. In the coming age, silver becomes pearl, and the materials in the New Jerusalem become gold, pearl, and precious stones. Today we should be building the church with gold, silver, and precious stones. This, of course, does not mean that we build with literal gold, silver, and precious stones. These are not physical materials; they are signs signifying various experiences of Christ in the virtues and attributes of the Triune God. Gold signifies the divine nature, the nature of the Father with all its attributes. Silver signifies the redeeming Christ with all the virtues and attributes of His person and work. The precious stones signify the transforming work of the Holy Spirit with all its attributes. All these materials, therefore, are the products of our experience and enjoyment of Christ in our spirit through the Holy Spirit. As signs, these materials signify the divine work of the Divine Trinity who is wrought into our being through His divine work. We are now building the church with God the Father’s nature, with God the Son’s redemption, and with God the Spirit’s transforming work.
The principle is the same with the New Jerusalem, which is the consummation of the building in 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Corinthians 3 the building is in process and has not yet been consummated. The New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 is the consummation of that building. This is the city for which Abraham was waiting. He was waiting not for a material city but for a marvelous city built with the Father’s nature, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s transformation.
The New Testament believers have already come to the city of the living God. Hebrews 12:22a says, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem,” referring to God’s habitation and the center of His universal administration.
Hebrews 11:14-16 reveals that the Old Testament saints longed after a better country, a heavenly country, and that God has prepared for them a city. In 12:22, however, the writer tells us that we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem. This verse does not say that we will come to the heavenly Jerusalem but that we have come to this city. If the Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem in 12:22 were material, how could we have come to them today? This would be impossible.
The fact that, according to Hebrews 12:22, we have already come to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, indicates that it is not a material city. Many Christians are waiting to go to the New Jerusalem, but we need to realize that we have come to the New Jerusalem already. The church is the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). Hence, the church is God’s home, and it is also our home today. When the church is enlarged to be a city, it becomes a heavenly country. Our heavenly country is a city-the heavenly Jerusalem-to which we have already come.
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